This is probably not going to age well on Sept 26 and then again in two years max when Riley is gone for not having made an expanded playoff.

USC Mocks Dan Lanning And Oregon And It Could Backfire Big

A lot of love for SC right now. I think the fat lady knows best "While USC is now right with Oregon in terms of recruiting, the same cannot be said for the on-field results. The Ducks have owned the rivalry between the two programs dating back to their days in the Pac-12. The Ducks have won the past four matchups between them. USC has not won since a 2016 regular season matchup."

Hidden Ripple Effect of Danny Lang Committing to USC over Oregon

Dan Lanning will get his...both in recruits and in victories. Thus far, all we see or hear from USC are banal utterings without any backing in results...

This 'stuff' is what makes a rivalry. And it also shows that Dan is No. 1 on USC's Most Wanted poster. Great, bring it on.

In the 2026 Big Ten opener for both teams, the only thing that matters will be revealed by a photo of the scoreboard at the game's end.

When it matters the most, when at Oklahoma and at SC, has Riley walked the walk? No, not ever.

In 2025, SC's recruiting class was No. 1 in terms of quantity. Dan finished ahead of Riley in quality, again.

I do not want Dan to sink to SC's level, but a perfect response to SC's post would be to post a photo of All-America guard Emmanuel Pregnon, a player who found the grass greener at A School Up North. 😁

Is there any grass in South Central that isn't fake?

While OBD haven’t broken through with winning it all, you have to actually be in contention to win it all, and USC has yet to qualify for any version of a playoff that featured more than 2 teams. Recruiting success isn’t new for them, not sure why they think this is the year…but feel free to at least qualify for the modern era playoff once. Any team on this list not making the expanded playoff at least 4 out of 5 years should be considering firing their coach imo.

Top-10 Average Composite Recruiting Classes (Last 5 Years, roughly 2020-2024, according to Google):

1. Georgia Bulldogs: Generally considered #1, with consistently elite classes.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide: Top-tier finisher annually.

3. Ohio State Buckeyes: Consistent top-three finisher.

4. LSU Tigers: Elite recruiting in Louisiana and nationally.

5. Texas A&M Aggies: High-ranked classes, including the record-setting 2022 class.

6. Clemson Tigers: Consistently top-10, strong under Dabo Swinney.

7. Texas Longhorns: Elite recruiting pedigree.

8. Oregon Ducks: Top-tier recruiting under Dan Lanning.

9. USC Trojans: Elite recruiting in California, particularly strong in recent cycles.

10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Solid, consistent top-10 to top-15 classes.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by JabbaNoBargain

Ok, more from SI. Maybe some missing context here?

• The article uses "flipped" but I don't recall any indication Oregon ever really clearly was in the lead for Lang? In college football not getting a kid a program never really led for is pretty common.

• Regardless USC has always recruited nearby Mater Dei well. They had 3 commits from there just last year. Since 2001, Mater Dei has produced something like 80 FBS players, somewhere around 57 being "power four". USC doesn't recruit them all. However, out of Mater Dei's 25 highest rated recruits 14 have picked USC. USC getting a kid from Mater Dei is about as shocking a headline as "Oregon lands recruit from Sheldon High".

• Out of those nearly 60 power five kids since 2001, Oregon has gotten 5. Out of the 25 highest ranked players, Oregon has gotten 2, Aydin Breland (20) and Mase Funa (22). The other three being Lipe Moala (35), Austin Faoliu (39), and Jack Ressler (40). In 25 seasons what is that, one every five years? Getting Lang always was going to be a bit more of an upset for Oregon, while the article (and the USC tweet) sure seem to imply it being some kind of recruiting coup?

[ Small edit: I did just realize Jordan Davison or Nassir Wyatt are missing. I believe the list used did not include 2025 Mater Dei recruits ]

• Lanning and Riley both have been recruiting at their schools since 2002. So far, Oregon has ranked 6.6 in the 247 Composite and USC 22. Throw out the first class (where Oregon was 13 and USC had a small class rated 70); and, it is still Oregon ranked #5 and USC #10. Overall, Lanning's recruits have averaged 92.2 and USC 91.2. That matches 247's overall roster composition at kickoff last season of Oregon at 91.1 rated #5 and USC 89.7 rated #17.

• Checking a USC board I sometimes lurk, consensus is USC was initially slow putting together NIL for high school recruits and didn't necessarily have a local emphasis. That has changed since GM Chad Bowden was hired. Now it is paying up and emphasizing local recruits (5/6 of their commits so far are from California). Pete Nacos of On3 stated (2/4/26) that USC was the top spender in NIL last year, noting overall #42 nationally rated TE Mark Bowman getting $5 to 6.5 million over his first 3 year. If mostly accurate, Lang to USC should not really be seen as any sort of big surprise.

Edited 32 minutes ago32 min by AnotherOD

Cheapest rent in LA . . . Ducks in sc heads! 😅